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Life Cycle AssessmentReducing the environmental impact from "cradle to grave"

Gore Fabrics is committed to continuously improving the environmental impact of its products. To ensure this happens, we have been using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for more than 20 years.

Our LCA results have shown that the best way to minimize the environmental footprint of a functional outdoor jacket or a pair of hiking boots is to enhance their durability. This is why quality, durability and performance are the cornerstones of our products. LCA not only helps us to identify approaches that really matter when it comes to reducing our impact, but to provide our partners with an ecological balance sheet that informs their environmental strategies.

Life Cycle Assessment: GORE-TEX® Jacket

Key facts of Gore Fabrics LCA studies

Our LCA studies for a typical GORE TEX® jacket and for a pair of functional hiking boots have shown that the impact of longevity of our products is the single most influential factor in improving its environmental impact. In other words: the longer a product is worn, the smaller is its annual environmental impact.

When looking at the LCA results of a jacket we see that production and distribution account for around 65% of the CO2-emissions. Consumer care, with 35% of total CO2, has also a significant impact, while the impact of the jacket’s disposal is - with less than 1 % - negligible.

The LCA study on a pair of functional hiking boots confirmed these findings: production and distribution account for 77% CO2-emissions whereas the boot’s disposal only accounts for less than 2% CO2-emissions.